


Park Chanyeol Has A High School Crush

by PinkJinPls



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol, ChanBaek - Freeform, Chanyeol has a crush, EXO - Freeform, Established Byun Baekhyun/Mark Lee, Fluff, Fluffy, I love ChanBaek, Jongdae is a Virgo, M/M, Mark and Baekhyun break up, Mentioned SHINee Ensemble, Minor Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Minor Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, NCT 2018, Oblivious Baekhyun, Park Chanyeol is Whipped, Romance, Roommates Baekhyun/Jongdae, Roommates Jongin/Chanyeol, Slow Burn, Student Park Chanyeol, University Student Byun Baekhyun, Valentines Gifts, happy valentines day, high school sweethearts, it's just soft, soft, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:27:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22724671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkJinPls/pseuds/PinkJinPls
Summary: Park Chanyeol graduates from high school after three long years of being hopelessly in love with Byun Baekhyun. He has one last chance to talk to him, properly, but Baekhyun's boyfriend ruins the moment. Leaving for college should be a fresh start in a new place surrounded by new people, but of all his graduating class, Baekhyun is the only other person attending his university.Weeks before Valentines Day, news spreads quickly that Baekhyun has been dumped, and Chanyeol finally has his chance to woo the boy who has consumed his mind, body and soul for years. It's just, Chanyeol isn't exactly smooth, and Baekhyun's kinda oblivious to his all of his efforts.It might work out somehow between the not-so secret admirers and the occasional word vomit.(OR, Chanyeol has the biggest undying crush on Baekhyun and poses as a mysterious 'secret admirer' to buy cute gifts for Baekhyun and melts for him whenever he wears overalls.)
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Mark Lee (NCT), Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 14
Kudos: 137





	Park Chanyeol Has A High School Crush

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentines Day cherubs. I worked hard to whip this up as quick as I could and I haven't edited it yet so I could post it in time, so if it's grammatically awful for a few days barewith. 
> 
> Enjoy Valentines soft bois Chanbaek x

Byun Baekhyun’s smile could light up half of the universe like it was nothing. The sweet shape of his lips would make his cheeks scrunch cutely, pearly teeth shining, his eyes sparkling and crinkling like a comic book flower boy. Just when it couldn’t get better, or more beautiful, Baekhyun’s smile breaks into a loud laugh that echoes like the call of a bird in a spring blue sky and breaks hearts across the majority of the Earth’s hemispheres. His skin glowed and his combed brunette hair looked so fluffy beneath the graduation cap. The large bouquet of spilling white flowers looked like mere weeds in comparison to his enrapturing beauty.

Because that’s what staring at Byun Baekhyun felt like, staring into a pool of enrapturing beauty until your soul soothed into the most perfect state of zen. Everything stilled to the state of a slow-motion haze until the singular blink of Baekhyun’s eyes could dominate the mind and take over whatever had been there before.

“Chanyeol? Are you listening, sweetie?”

Park Chanyeol’s head snapped to attention. He tore his eyes away from Baekhyun and rather dumbly looked at his parents. The world around him caught up to him as his Mother frowned slightly. Life always slowed down when he looked at Baekhyun and caught up like the glitch of a tape reel after. The noise of the graduating crowds filled his ears and the weight of the bouquets in his arms filled with poignant pollen tickled at his nose. Chanyeol’s face scrunched as his mother rubbed a clean handkerchief at his cheek before trying her best to adjust his sloping graduation cap.

It was quite the feat considering he was heads taller than his Mother.

“I hope that you didn’t daydream that much through your exams, son,” she chided as she went over his appearance.

Everyone branded him as a daydreamer, his parents, teachers and friends, but when he was pushed into a room containing Byun Baekhyun, what else could he do? He thanked the heavens that Baekhyun sat behind him in the exam hall so that he could concentrate without his unlawful eyes glancing across to watch how his jaw tugged against his creamy skin. Chanyeol wasn’t a daydreamer; he was just a hopeless romantic stuck in a teenage body. For almost three years he had been putty in Baekhyun’s soft hands.

“I worked hard, Ma, I promise,” he replied with a slight huff.

He fought the urge to not glance to Baekhyun once more as his Father tinkered with a camera. Chanyeol had had photos taken with his classmates, including his best friend Sehun who was already posting them online for his loyal followers to share and love. He stood next to his Mother, smiling dutifully wide, as his Father aimed the camera at them. His parents swapped positions with his Father straightening his own tie, and then his son’s, the family capturing memories of the high school graduation. When his parents were quite happy with the results, Chanyeol’s gaze drifted to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was now stood alone. His body looked somewhat swamped by the shining uniform, reshuffling the bouquet in his arms, shiny shoes scuffing the ground he stood on. After suffering his crush in silence for three years, the universe had given Chanyeol a brief, momentary chance, before everything would soon change. Baekhyun’s cap slid from his head and the solitary male huffed. Chanyeol’s feet moved quicker than light and suddenly he was in front of Baekhyun, scooping up his graduation cap before offering it to him with a nervous smile. Baekhyun looked up at him and – with great audacity to Chanyeol’s heart – smiled brightly.

“Park Chanyeol! Thank you,” Baekhyun offered with a grand smile, “One wrong move and I’ll drop all these bouquets.”

His chance to speak to the teenage love of his life and Chanyeol was now abruptly speechless? He just stood there, the lanky eighteen-year-old he was, holding onto Baekhyun’s cap like a star struck girl to an idol. Baekhyun’s eyes flittered over him, glinting in curiosity, no doubt at the idiot in front of him. The shorter cleared his throat.

“Would you?”

“Oh!” Chanyeol blurted with all the intellectual talents of a baboon.

He shuffled his own flowers ever so before carefully placing the graduation cap onto Baekhyun’s head, his hopeless heart picturing him crowning a regal prince, rather than helping a schoolmate. Maybe the universe wasn’t too bad, if it allowed him the pleasure of placing a graduation cap onto the love of his short life’s head, this was definitely grandchildren-storytelling material.

“Thank you, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun spoke cheerfully.

Chanyeol nodded and offered his own smile, no doubt dorky and embarrassing to look at, when the thought struck him. He chewed on his lip for a second, glancing to the cracked screen Baekhyun’s phone, willing himself to _ask_.

“Do you think I could,” Chanyeol heard himself but then there was a bustle of people in front of them.

“Stand next to your friend, Chanyeol! Appa will take your photo!” his Mother demanded.

Chanyeol stood and watched in utter mortification as his Mother smiled and fussed over Baekhyun’s appearance, brushing his hair a little before standing back for the photo to be taken. If Baekhyun felt taken aback, he didn’t show it, and instead stood closer to Chanyeol and grinned happily. Chanyeol smiled bashfully from next to him, and even if Baekhyun pushed himself onto tiptoe beside the taller boy, still felt small and embarrassed.

“Baek!” Mark Lee suddenly called.

A gaggle of boys skidded into the photograph, causing Chanyeol’s parents to laugh, even though Chanyeol had barely spoken to any of Baekhyun’s friends before. Especially Mark Lee. Baekhyun laughed loudly next to Chanyeol’s ear as Mark’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, pressing their faces together. Lee Donghyuck, in his loud mouthed glory, forced himself to the front and threw his arms dramatically as he posed for Chanyeol’s parents. His parents laughed at their antics, the other boy’s parents snapping photographs too, and Chanyeol tried to force himself to keep smiling but Mark and Baekhyun were posing so cutely together it made his gut want to spit out this morning’s breakfast.

The minute he saw Ten and Taemin spot the group and head over, the school brandished them ‘TT’ since they were damn near inseparable, Chanyeol ducked his head and shuffle out of frame. His parents chuckled as they reached him, his Mother already looking through the photographs taken, which the boys were still posing for with flair and excitement. His father started to talk about the meal his grandparents were preparing and that they should make their leave. Chanyeol swallowed and nodded in agreement, even though his eyes were set on Baekhyun, and Mark Lee who was pressing adoring kisses across his cheeks.

Chanyeol wondered what it must be like to be Byun Baekhyun’s boyfriend, like Mark Lee was. Instead of having a brief, handful of mundane yet special moments with Baekhyun, he would have a whole damn house full. 

“Come on, Chanyeol,” his Father called loudly through the now-dispersing crowds of students and their families.

The boy took only one step forward before he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Park Chanyeol!” Baekhyun shouted.

He quickly turned and glanced at Baekhyun, his heart beating so fast that a strange breath fell from his lips. Baekhyun offered another of his grand smiles and waved a little.

“See you in Daejeon!”

Chanyeol nodded and waved once. Baekhyun turned back to his friends only to be tackled by Taemin and have his cap knocked from his head once again. This time, it was Mark Lee’s turn to pick it up and return it to its rightful place on the top of Baekhyun’s head, before kissing him with all the slow lingering that Chanyeol would have. The tall male sighed and turned away to follow after his parents.

It was all quite overwhelming for Chanyeol to know that his days of high school were officially over, and what awaited him, was packed suitcases and a new start in a brand new university. In a few weeks after the long summer break he would be moving to Daejeon to study Sports Education with Korean Language and Literature, and of all the students to be heading to the same school as him, the universe deigns, would be Byun Baekhyun.

♥♡♥♡

“Jongin!”

The dance student frowned in confusion at the echoing of his name from the hall, and as he turned in his desk chair, now distracted from his coursework, the door of their dorm barged open. Chanyeol’s large body came to a bumbling skid, his large trainers skidding over the trodden carpet until his torso fell onto his own desk and almost sent his lamp and potted plant flying.

“It happened! It finally happened!” Chanyeol shouted excitedly to his roommate.

Jongin blinked once in confusion and remained silent. The sport student caught his breath, whipping off his orange beanie and dropping his backpack to the floor, face lit up bright like a firework. Chanyeol’s hair stood up on end like super Saiyan hair and Jongin couldn’t drag his eyes from it. He beamed a smile as he shrugged out of his windbreaker jacket and let it drop to the floor with a crinkling sound.

“I walked into the library to study for the upcoming test and Byun Baekhyun, you know, Byun Baekhyun?”

“Byun Baekhyun, the love of your life that you constantly talk about?” Jongin countered with raised eyebrow.

“Yeah! He was sat at a table with his friends and he was totally crying, he broke up with Mark Lee! I spied on them from behind a bookcase and apparently long distance just wasn’t working out for them, especially since Mark spent so much time back in Canada for the Christmas holiday,” Chanyeol wriggled excitedly on the spot, “Isn’t that great?!”

“…No, the poor guy is crying because his relationship has ended, that’s so sad,” Jongin chastised with a shake of his head.

“Hey! Who’s side are you on?” Chanyeol asked as he plopped onto his own bed.

Chanyeol was really enjoying his university days. He loved having a new city to explore and send photos back to his parents. On his course, he had made new friends that he partied with frequently in the surrounding dorms, which Jongin always tagged along too in some fancy outfit he had concocted. He loved sharing a dorm with Kim Jongin and thanked his stars he was sharing with someone he had so much in common with.

Except this.

From the start, Jongin had told Chanyeol that university was all about new opportunities and meeting different people. The tall male just couldn’t drop Baekhyun so easily from his heart though, especially when he tended to pop up in every dorm, lunch hall, and park bench within the university campus. Baekhyun flourished so naturally on his Art course, and had a bunch of friends he was a _lways_ with before Chanyeol had even had the chance to talk with him. Fleeting waves and an _“Oh, hey, sorry! I’m on my way to a class and can’t talk, catch you soon!”_ was the best Chanyeol could grab.

UNTIL NOW!

“He’s going through a time and I feel like a friendly face from home will make him feel better! I could get him some flowers to make him smile!” Chanyeol planned out loud, falling onto his back and grinning at the ceiling.

“Be a friend, Park Chanyeol, for the time being, at least. Lord knows breakups are so miserable,” Jongin grumbled.

Chanyeol stared into the back of his roommate’s head as Jongin looked back at the textbooks in front of him, fingers fiddling with a pen absentmindedly, huffing. The tall male crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Jongin’s neck and squeezed, wanting to lovingly annoy the male, a common way they both showed each other love. Jongin huffed again but made no effort to swot the male away. 

“I didn’t know you still felt sad about Kyungsoo. Do you want to talk about it?” Chanyeol paused, nuzzling his face into Jongin’s neck, “My offer to kick him off Expo Bridge still stands.”

“It was mutual, and months ago, I’m definitely over it,” Jongin sighed as he leaned back into Chanyeol’s body, “I just want to meet someone new but I feel so busy with dance and theory.”

“You’re the sexiest guy on campus, I doubt you’ll really have a problem with that, Jonginnie.”

The sports student placed a playfully platonic kiss on the top of the younger’s head that made the dancer gripe and push him away, hiding a smile. He flopped back onto his bed and kicked off his shoes lazily as Jongin turned in his desk chair to face him, still playing with the pen in his hands. He met his friend’s gaze and already knew what he was going to ask.

“So, what’s your direct plan with the infamous Byun Baekhyun?” Jongin countered.

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol replied in a quiet voice.

It was all well and good that Baekhyun was now single, and Chanyeol had a chance to befriend him at least, but it was easy to forget how tongue-tied and dorky he became in front of him. Ever since moving to university, Baekhyun started to experiment with his appearance. He returned from the Christmas break with bright blue hair and a smoky grey smudge of eyeliner around his eyes. He wore colourful clothes and large denim jackets that he painted and customised himself.

It was like a whole new colourful Baekhyun that Chanyeol just fell even more head over heels for, but then again, Baekhyun could wear bin bags for a consecutive week and the sports student would swoon.

“You should feign innocence and pretend you don’t know,” Jongin advised, pointing the ball point pen in Chanyeol’s direction, “Grab a coffee or lunch and catch up like friends would. Then let fate work it’s sneaky magic.”

It seemed like a good enough plan to the love struck male, he just hoped that fate worked in he and Baekhyun’s favour, and not in any other way. Chanyeol felt as if had grown up both mentally and physically in the last few months of leaving home. He had grown into himself a little bit, finding a confidence that he hadn’t known was there, and he’d even volunteered to be one of his course representatives. But he was still the Park Chanyeol who’s throat caught nervously when having to read something in class if Baekhyun was sat a few desks in front of him.

 _Especially_ if Baekhyun was sat a few desks in front of him.

♥♡♥♡

It took 6-7 business days for Chanyeol to gather the inner-strength to approach Baekhyun after class and do as Jongin had suggested, and ask if he wanted to go for a coffee at some point to catch up since school. Naturally he had buckled under the pressure he put on himself and there had been a few times his attempts had flopped. He once spent so long waiting around the Arts department that he realised he was ten minutes late to his Korean Language lecture and had had to sprint across campus to get there. A tiny voice in his head had whispered how relieved it felt that he hadn’t completed the task at hand.

The second time he tried, Chanyeol felt braver by only a small percentage. He had made sure that he had no lectures, classes or commitments, and wandered the Arts hallways slowly, trying not to get distracted by the colourful pieces that adorned the walls. The sports student had even had time to dip into the male toilets and give himself an upbeat pep talk; he’d needed it. He’d seen Baekhyun by a wall of spray painted lockers in all of his blue haired glory. An oversized check jacket hung from his shoulders and made his hair look brighter; better. His black pants bunched at his paint splattered trainers. Chanyeol had breathed in and out slowly as he prayed his hair wasn’t sticking up weirdly or anything.

Only, when he went to approach the art student, asterisk love of his life, Baekhyun turned his body to face Chanyeol even though he looked at his phone. The realisation the little love of his life was wearing a baggy pair of black overalls was so absurdly cute it knocked Chanyeol into a whole new territory of being violently in love and he’d ran away, not being able to cope with or even face something so gorgeously cute. He promised himself he’d go back the next day and hope Baekhyun wasn’t wearing his cute overalls.

For the next few days, university life got in the way, and Chanyeol had to focus on his classes and a rep meeting. He’d had a long day of being in and out of classes, copying up notes on an upcoming deadline and when he plodded out of the library late one night, he had seen Baekhyun stood across the way. The smaller had been wrapped in a big, blue padded jacket and there was a mask over his face. Chanyeol debated for a moment if Baekhyun’s hair had faded from the last time he’d seen him, or if it was just the pale light of the moon and the lamppost he was stood beneath.

Either way, Chanyeol accepted it as a handout from fate, and walked over to him.

Baekhyun looked up in curiosity when the tall, broad figure had approached him, as anyone would if stood alone at night, but pulled his mask down at the sight of Chanyeol. Chanyeol offered a tired smile.

“Park Chanyeol,” Baekhyun greeted.

His voice was clear as a bell but the dark circles under his eyes too easily indicated the male hadn’t been sleeping well, and as the taller acknowledged their puffy state, he knew Baekhyun had been crying. Chanyeol’s hopeful heart couldn’t help but break.

“Hi, Byun Baekhyun,” Chanyeol returned the greeting, “I was hoping to see you.”

Baekhyun’s head tilted in curiosity, and his hands emerged from his pockets and entwined in front of him instead, subconsciously.

“I mean, we haven’t had chance to talk since we got here, it would be nice to catch up,” Chanyeol hesitated, “A friendly face. It would be nice to hear about your art.”

“You wanna hear about my art?” Baekhyun asked in the tiniest voice Chanyeol had ever heard.

The taller male frowned a little in confusion. Who in this entire world wouldn’t want to sit and hear Baekhyun talking about his art, what he’s created, whether he prefers pencil or paint, what he wants to create next? Chanyeol would sit and listen to Baekhyun read the English dictionary and enjoy himself.

“I’d like to hear all about you, Byun Baekhyun,” Chanyeol replied shyly.

Under the light of the moon, a strange look passed over Baekhyun’s face and he looked at his feet for a long moment. Chanyeol frowned once again, stepping back slightly to see if there was something on the other male’s shoe, when a tiny sniffle caught his attention. The sports student realised that Baekhyun wasn’t out here waiting for anyone, or waiting to meet friends, he had needed fresh air. He was sad.

“Can I walk you somewhere?” Chanyeol blurted, knowing his cheeks were flushed pink.

Baekhyun nodded, even though the taller only saw the top of his head. There was another sniffle before Baekhyun looked back up. His mask covered his face again but his eyes crinkled as if he was smiling. Chanyeol offered a friendly smile even though his lovesick soul wanted to fight every lamp, tree and blade of grass for whatever and whoever had made Baekhyun feel sad.

_HOW DARE THE UNIVERSE DO THIS TO BYUN BAEKHYUN?! What the fuck was it thinking?!_

“I live in the East dorm,” Baekhyun informed, and off they both went, walking slowly.

Chanyeol figured that if Baekhyun was sad, it was obvious he wouldn’t want to talk and chatter freely as he usually would. He also couldn’t help thinking that even if Baekhyun wanted to chat, maybe he would hold back slightly since even though they knew of each other, their chats had always been fleeting. Or maybe he just found Chanyeol weird? Baekhyun had probably just wanted some space and now the weird tree-sized boy from high school popped out of nowhere to walk him home.

The sports student’s mind was ready to run away with itself and all stupid thoughts that floated around it when Baekhyun’s shoulder grazed Chanyeol’s arm and the boy had to stop himself from passing out. Baekhyun doing the bare minimum really wrecked him emotionally.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t even know what you’re studying,” Baekhyun asked softly.

Chanyeol has always felt tight-lipped around his crush. No matter how much he wills himself, he always ends up blurting out a singular word, two on a good day, and yet he’s somehow found himself on the biggest word vomit session he’s ever experienced in his life. A voice in Chanyeol’s head is _screaming_ for him to shut up but he physically can’t, he’s just walking along with Baekhyun, bleating on about his classes, his teachers, how he constantly loses pens. When his mouth finally does as it’s told and stops talking, Baekhyun is deadly silent, and he considers moving into the mountains and raising goats alone for the rest of his life.

“That’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk in my whole life!”

Baekhyun speaks quickly because a laugh bubbles in his throat and within the faintest second, his hand is holding onto Chanyeol’s arm, leaning his body against the taller in joy. It’s the sweetest sound Chanyeol’s ever heard.

“I never knew you were so funny, Park Chanyeol,” Baekhyun giggles.

Chanyeol’s grin is so wide he fears his cheeks might ache but he doesn’t care, the ache would be worth it, especially since Baekhyun’s other hand has pulled his mask down so he can catch his breath. There’s a tiny tear tucked in the corner of Baekhyun’s eye and if he were braver, Chanyeol would catch it with his thumb and keep it forever like a deity; a reminder of this night.

But then Baekhyun stops walking and his hand slips slowly from Chanyeol’s arm and the tall boy panics all at once, only to realise they’ve reached the dorm. If Baekhyun sees the alarm flash across Chanyeol’s face he says nothing and simply smiles.

“Thank you for walking me and keeping me company. You really made me laugh, Chanyeol, I feel kinda better,” Baekhyun hesitates and chews his lip, “Me and Mark broke up last week. This week’s felt so shit and horrible.”

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol lies and feels bad for it in his gut.

Jongin is always right, and he was definitely right about not celebrating so happily for Baekhyun’s breakup. It was so obvious the boy in front of him was hurting and that makes Chanyeol feel the same way. Baekhyun takes a breath and goes to take a step into his dorm, and then stops, swivelling on the spot and facing Chanyeol.

“You wanna meet me here tomorrow at 6?” Baekhyun then smiles, genuinely, “I’ll talk about my art and you can talk about, well, anything. You make anything sound great.”

Chanyeol nodded dumbly, and when Baekhyun turned and headed into his dorm, he leapt into the air and punched the air with happiness. Then he pulled himself together, reminded himself of the sad state Baekhyun was in, and hit himself on purpose. He was going to listen to Jongin and Jongin only; friendship would be the only thing he’d focus on with Baekhyun, and possibly making him laugh as loudly as he could, as often as he could.

And with that, the sports student all but skipped home to his own dorm.

♥♡♥♡

“Are you Park Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol’s head whipped up to look at whoever had called him. He had been sat on the steps of the East Dorm for around half an hour. He had no number to call Baekhyun and ask after him, and he had no idea which room was his, and he didn’t fancy picking the lock and knocking every door until he found him. So Chanyeol had simply sat and shivered in the cold February wind, wishing he’d worn his big, red padded coat.

The guy in front of him was wrapped in a big, fluffy lined parka that swamped his body. The hood was covering his hair and the rest of his face was covered by a knitted scarf, and yet Chanyeol still took note of his glowing skin and pretty eyes. He was definitely one of the effortlessly pretty boy types, and reminded him of Sehun. Chanyeol didn’t realise how much of a sad puppy he looked sat on the step with his eyes wide and lips pouted.

“I’m Jongdae, Baek’s roommate,” the male spoke as he walked closer, “Our tutor wanted to meet with him after class and go over his coursework, he said he was sorry he couldn’t get a hold of you.”

Chanyeol’s heart slumped sadly to the bottom of his ribcage as the sport student pushed himself up, trying not to seem so upset in front of Baekhyun’s roommate. He forced a little smile and pushed his hands into his pockets. He was disappointed not to see Baekhyun again and make sure that he was okay but understood that schoolwork should come first.

“Oh, okay, thanks for telling me,” Chanyeol spoke simply before stepping away.

A hand stopped him though, as Jongdae reached out in halt, stepping in front of him and tiptoeing to examine Chanyeol’s face. Even though the sports student stood a head taller than Jongdae, he couldn’t help but feel himself shrink under his intimidating gaze. He gulped rather obviously and Jongdae pulled his scarf down ever so.

“Baekhyun is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and this breakup has been hard on him,” Jongdae’s eyes narrowed, “What are your intentions?”

Chanyeol’s mind ultimately answered, a happily consensual marriage leading to a home full of dogs that they could love forever. Chanyeol would spend his days making sure that each of Baekhyun’s dreams and whims were completed, he would brew him fresh coffee (however people did that) and would present him with fresh pastries and fruit. Hell, Baekhyun wouldn’t even have to use his legs; Chanyeol would gladly carry him around like the sweet little king he was and present him to the world that way. Maybe they’d have kids, depending on how much space they would have after the hoard of dogs.

His mouth answered differently, thank fuck.

“We went to school together. He was a good classmate and I respect him. I just want to make sure Baekhyun’s okay.”

Jongdae was quiet, and only the wintry winds came between them, blowing both of their hoods from their heads. Chanyeol squirmed in intimidation once again before Jongdae took a step back and nodded.

“Good answer. I’m keeping my eye on you, Park Chanyeol, and I have spies everywhere,” Jongdae spoke matter-of-factly.

“I believe you,” Chanyeol blurted and laughed once.

Kim Jongdae smiled genuinely and watched as the tall male sidestepped him to head the way that he himself had came. He liked to think that he was a good sense of character, and the moment he had seen that big puppy of a human sat on the step his heart had melted. Not that he’d ever show it, of course. He couldn’t help but be quite protective over little Baekhyun Byun. In their first week of being roommates they had done everything together, parties, induction classes, a few more parties. When Jongdae had unpacked his bags and realised he’d made the stupid decision of forgetting every pair of his shoes bar his slides, Baekhyun had told him they could share his.

Jongdae had watched how sad Baekhyun was after _the_ phone call with Mark. Jongdae’s Virgo senses had been tingling for a while about his roommate’s relationship expiry date. Baekhyun was an emotionally open person, he loved meeting new people and seeing what made them tick, and for a long time, he felt like he wasn’t the one who made Mark tick. Mark could handle long distances but Baekhyun couldn’t.

Jongdae had held Baekhyun for hours when Mark told him it was better they parted. The male had even pushed their two single beds together so that Baekhyun could snuggle up to his body and sniffle until sleep overcame him. Jongdae refused to let anyone put his little Baekhyun through that again.

Naturally he was glad when he saw the sincerity etched into Park Chanyeol’s handsome face. It was too obvious that the tall boy had feelings for Baekhyun, he had been sat on a cold step in the middle of winter for forty-five minutes, but he seemed respectful. Jongdae laughed softly to himself and felt eager to tell Baekhyun how he’d found Chanyeol once he returned to the dorms, only to see a small paper bag where the tall male had been. Jongdae turned and went to call after him but Chanyeol’s body was rapidly disappearing from sight, and plus, his curiosity got the better of him.

He reached for the bag and saw the blueberry muffin tucked away inside of it. His stomach rumbled, and with one last sneaky look over his shoulder, he entered his dorm after biting a large chunk out of the muffin.

♥♡♥♡

Every single time Chanyeol thought, _‘this is it, I’m not going to be shy around Baekhyun anymore’_ , it manifested and the sports student found himself too bashful to even walk near the Arts building. A few days after his not-so friend date with Baekhyun, college life had intervened and he’d found himself busy with his classes or working out with Jongin in the gym. He simply hadn’t had the time to bump into Baekhyun, even if he wanted to, and he supposed it was the same for the arts student. But, one day, as Chanyeol walked through the cafeteria he noticed something.

The red, shiny cut out hearts dangling from the ceiling. The love songs playing through the speakers. Bundles of flowers adorned every table top in small vases. Even the fruit wasn’t safe; each piece was wrapped in a curly red gift ribbon and had love heart labels attached to them.

“Oh God,” Chanyeol whined with a pout as he sunk into his seat opposite Jongin and Xiumin, “It’s Valentine’s Day.”

“Yeah, in like a whole week’s time, this is gross,” Xiumin huffed as he stabbed at his lunchbox in vengeance with a chopstick.

Jongin glanced over him with wary eyes and shuffled ever so away from him, before he peered across Chanyeol’s face. His bronze skin looked so nice even under the weird yellow cafeteria lights, and after he’d probably been dancing since eight o’clock that morning, his roommate still looked gorgeous. Even if there was some rice stuck to his chin. Chanyeol sighed and flicked it away.

“Were you hoping to spend Valentines with someone this year, Chanyeol?” Jongin spoke softly.

“Maybe,” Chanyeol shrugged with drooping shoulders, “I just want to make sure Baekhyun is okay. There’s nothing worse than all this lovey-dovey shit shoved in your face after a breakup.”

“Amen,” Jongin grunted.

“Anyone who would enjoy receiving stupid bears or roses that will only die anyway needs a reality check,” Xiumin agreed.

Jongin flinched visibly as Xiumin stabbed the straw through his Capri-sun with such conviction it silenced the table. The eldest sucked on the drink like a vampire to a virgin and Chanyeol would have tilted his head and queried where Xiumin’s sudden hatred was bubbling from but an idea burst into his mind and left his spine straight from the realisation. Jongin’s gentle “Oh no,” went unheard by Chanyeol’s ears. Maybe all of the Valentines stuff wouldn’t feel so bad to Baekhyun if he was a part of it? 

The sports student wasn’t going to do something stupid like propose his undying love – as much as he _really_ wanted to – but a few flowers left at Baekhyun’s locker by a quote-unquote secret admirer wouldn’t go amiss, surely?

“I’m so clever, oh my God, I amaze myself!”

Chanyeol babbled to himself as hurriedly ate his food, wriggling around on the seat excitedly, spoonfuls of rice and chicken tasting even better all of a sudden. Jongin felt like he was sat at the geeky table in Mean Girls, trapped between Xiumin the food slasher and Chanyeol who was grinning and talking to himself like no one else was around.

“I have so much to do, I’ll see you at the dorm later!” Chanyeol announced as he rushed off to dump his tray and leave the cafeteria.

Jongin sighed as he watched his roommate go, before glancing sideward to Xiumin who was now snapping heart-shaped biscuits in half with a determination. Maybe this was the lovelorn table and they were all cursed. The dancer whistled lowly and retrieved the biscuit before Xiumin could smash it even more.

“Damn Xiumin, Jongdae really did a number on you, huh?”

♥♡♥♡

It finally happened.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun managed to share a table in a small café outside the Arts building with a couple of huge milkshakes and a slice of cake with two forks. Valentine’s Day had hit every building in campus like a truck and even this café was the same, the chalkboard menu written in pink and red swirly font. One of the waitresses was even wearing a bobble headband with cherubs holding a bow and arrow and they bobbed back and forth as she scrubbed the counter.

Baekhyun’s hair had faded even more so, quite rightfully taking Chanyeol’s breath away, but his eyes looked shiny once again and his cheeks had life in them once more. His large art folder looked as if it were going to burst open as it lay beside him, propped against the window they were sat in. His precious body was wrapped in the biggest cardigan and the more the sports student looked, the more little drips and splats of paint would emerge on the wool like stars in a night sky.

The long awaited coffee date was finally happening, it just wasn’t happening how Chanyeol had imagined.

“Look what I found today in my locker, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun’s voice was high and excitable as his hands clasped at the small, red box, “I have a secret admirer!”

Chanyeol had been walking through the night market when his post-soccer club cravings rumbled deep in his stomach for something sweet, and hopefully unhealthy, when he’d seen it. There was a young woman sat at a stall, surrounded by handcrafted boxes containing the head of a single blooming rose inside. It had made his lovesick heart feel all gooey and happy. A tiny voice in his head whispered how much Baekhyun would love finding one in his locker and so Chanyeol brought one.

It’s just, in his head Chanyeol figured he would confidently string out the ‘secret admirer’ thing for a minute or so before sending Baekhyun a dazzling smile and confessing it was him, and maybe catching the art student as he swooned and fell into his arms. Something along those lines. Naturally fate went a completely different way and Chanyeol’s mouth _REFUSED_ to move. Seeing Baekhyun’s little sweater paws from that cosy, grey cardigan just worked Chanyeol up to the point if he spoke he’d probably scream from the cuteness.

He was just so weak for soft, fluffy cute things.

“I think it’s from someone in my class, or at least the Art building. There’s a really cute guy in my materials class called Taeyong and he gave me a cookie when he saw I was feeling sad that time,” Baekhyun chattered eagerly, his fingertips running along the petals with care, “It could be a girl! It could be anyone!”

Chanyeol wanted to shout that it could be the poor guy sat opposite you who’d been in love with you dutifully like an old dog since you moved classes in high school and made everyone laugh with a chemistry joke but again, lips refused to move, at all.

“What do you think? Have you heard any rumours about someone who likes me?” Baekhyun giggled as he looked into the others eyes.

His chin was now propped on his hands, elbows on the table, boxed rose between them. Chanyeol was too busy trying to etch the image into his mind like a Polaroid to realise he really, _really_ needed to talk now.

“Who wouldn’t like you, Baekhyun,” the sports student blurted but broke into coughing halfway through because a hunk of whipped cream from his milkshake tickled his throat.

He coughed embarrassingly for a good minute.

“What was that?” Baekhyun asked with a sweet smile, passing him a tissue.

He had half a mind to use the tissue to dab against his profusely sweating forehead but instead swiped it over his lips.

“I said I wonder who likes you, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol corrected himself a little louder, and after briefly glimpsing over the art boy’s precious face, “Do you like the gift? Like, with everything that happened, does it make you feel happy?”

Baekhyun gave one of his million dollar smiles and seeing it up this close, the tall boy surely thought this was the end, would the cause of his death be from an overload of pretty cuteness, or defeat by schoolboy crush? The boy in question giggled again and then slid a hand across the table to place on top of Chanyeol’s, squeezing it, still smiling perfectly.

Chanyeol tried desperately to a) keep his cool, and b) not nut his pants.

“I never knew how sweet you were, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun spoke softly, hand giving another squeeze, “You’re such a good friend to me.”

“Why do you look like you’ve guiltily nutted your pants?” Jongin asked later when Chanyeol returned to the dorm and chose to lay on the floor between their beds.

“Because in the metaphorical sense I have,” Chanyeol paused, and then continued when Jongin said nothing in return, “Baekhyun called me a good friend.”

“Okay,” Jongin mumbled, closing his laptop and removing an earphone, “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that even though that was your goal, to befriend him and be a good friend in his time of need, it still hurts because you want to be more?”

The sports student simply nodded as he stared at the ceiling and clutched his backpack to his chest. Jongin sighed and shrugged his shoulders as he watched his roommate stare into a vortex of despair.

“I guess it could be worse, in a parallel universe maybe you’re the one he just broke up with and the infamous Mark Lee is the one lying on the floor like a dummy because Baekhyun friendzoned him,” Jongin concluded.

“I mean,” Chanyeol mumbled in thought, “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Exactly. Maybe in another parallel universe, Baekhyun is lying on the floor like a dummy because you and Mark Lee are the childhood sweethearts, bound by fate and destiny and Baekhyun wants a piece of _that_ boning action. Ooh! Or maybe in a _nother_ parallel universe,”

“Please stop writing fanfiction about me and my pathetic love life,” Chanyeol interrupted Jongin’s train of thought bluntly.

“What can I say? The reader’s love a slow burn,” Jongin concluded with a smug grin.

He once again opened his laptop and went back to whatever he was doing, Chanyeol doesn’t know if he really wants to know, at this point, before he thinks back to Baekhyun’s happy smile. His whole demeanour had changed from the last time he had seen him. His smile and tone of voice was so genuine, and he’d kept the little boxed rose on the table like he was a proud Father. Apparently it was the most exciting thing to happen in his art class this side of Christmas.

That’s why Chanyeol decides to head back down to the market and see what other cute Valentines presents he could find.

♥♡♥♡

Chanyeol continued to leave little gifts for Baekhyun on the run up to Valentine’s Day. The moment he saw how happy Baekhyun was with his boxed rose made the sweet feeling become all too addictive.

He had planned to start out small and keep things small, wanting to gift the boy with sentimental things that Baekhyun would appreciate and admire. The sports student had ordered some red handled paintbrushes online and had made Jongin help him intricately entwine them into a simple bouquet of tiny red and white flowers. Xiumin was a regular Kim Possible and could crack open a locker with a bobby pin, and with that know-how, Chanyeol planted the bouquet in there.

The receiver of the gifts had posted a picture on his Instagram of the bouquet with a succession of heart emojis and question marks, and Chanyeol had liked it feeling sly as hell.

A day later, the sports student carried out a stealthy mission, sneaking through the Arts building until he came across the window into Baekhyun’s study room. He considered wearing all black clothing like a real spy but figured that would make him stand out more so, and settled on a beanie and mask. Spotting who felt like the love of his tragic life made Chanyeol smile so wide, as Baekhyun sat collecting his things, laughing with his friends. Once the students left the room, Chanyeol snuck inside and tied love heart balloons to Baekhyun’s desk for him to find the next morning. He convinced himself it was a sweet and romantic gesture even if he could hear Jongin’s voice in his mind telling him he was a creep.

“Hi Park Chanyeol!” Baekhyun’s sweet voice called.

Chanyeol looked up from where he had been sitting on a bench beside Jongin. Baekhyun practically hop, skip and jumped across the way toward Chanyeol, with that pretty smile and his arms completely full. Jongdae followed with the strange smile he had given Chanyeol on their first meeting. The sports student felt intimidated once again.

“Hi Byun Baekhyun,” Chanyeol replied with pink cheeks, not just from the cold.

The collection of balloons that he had left on the boy’s desk yesterday were now being held by Jongdae, who was bundled up in his coat, whereas Baekhyun held onto a pink box of elaborately pretty cupcakes. Chanyeol all but gushed silently at the sight of Baekhyun wrapped in the white scarf and beanie set he’d left for him in his locker, adorned with little red hearts. The colour made his faded blue hair look even cuter.

“My secret admirer left more things! Do you want a cupcake?” Baekhyun asked as he flipped the lid and revealed the prettily iced baked goods.

Jongin giggled from under his own thick scarf and Chanyeol elbowed him quickly. Chanyeol had made his roommate wake up at the crack of dawn with him and head to the bakery to buy the cakes before anyone else could. Every good boyfriend in the land had been rushing to the local bakeries each morning and the sports student wouldn’t be beat out to the best of the best for Baekhyun.

Even if he wasn’t his boyfriend.

“I’m okay thanks, you enjoy them,” Chanyeol spoke simply with a soft smile.

Jongdae’s eyes flickered between the two and missed nothing. It was his turn to chuckle to himself and when Baekhyun turned to him with curious eyes, Jongdae simply smiled and wriggled the balloons. The male could look so mischievous one minute and then change to innocent in a whiplashing speed.

“They tied balloons to my desk, and left me this cute hat and scarf! I’m getting little surprises each day!” Baekhyun went on with a smile.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile as he saw the happiness ooze from Baekhyun. He was sure that the Valentines gifts had been a good distraction for Baekhyun from his breakup. His face was so sweet and happy, nose pink from the cold, and Chanyeol was sure he’d melt into a puddle like in the cartoons and Jongin would have to take him back to the dorm in a jar.

“Maybe it’s a stalker,” Jongin suddenly added to the conversation, “You should be careful, whoever would go to all this trouble might be a complete weirdo.”

He took it back, he didn’t want Jongin to be in charge of his puddle-self. Chanyeol naturally glared at his friend and knew he wasn’t being subtle about it. Everything was going so well, the last thing he needed was for Baekhyun to worry and feel uncomfortable, if he ever made the boy feel like that he’d be crushed. Jongin sent a simple smile in return and thankfully Baekhyun took the comment as a joke and laughed, still holding onto the cupcakes like his life depended on it. Chanyeol was going to slap the back of Jongin’s neck so damn hard after this.

“Please ignore my roommate, Baekhyun, this is Kim Jongin. He’s salty that he’s single this Valentine’s day,” Chanyeol introduced nevertheless.

It was Jongin’s turn to shoot Chanyeol a glare to which the taller grinned, feigning innocence. The dancer rolled his eyes but waved to Baekhyun and Jongdae nevertheless. Baekhyun bowed carefully as he clutched the cupcakes and grinned before nodding toward his own friend.

“This is my roommate Kim Jongdae. I don’t think he’s salty about anything,” he introduced with another sweet giggle.

“Not that I know of,” Jongdae laughed softly.

Jongdae glanced to Jongin.

“How’s Xiumin doing recently? I haven’t really heard from him,” the male spoke, voice muffled from his scarf.

“Xiumin is typical Xiumin,” Jongin replied with a slight laugh, “If you wanted to reach out, I think he’d appreciate it.”

Chanyeol straightened with realisation. Was Baekhyun’s handsome and kinda scary roommate the same Jongdae that Xiumin had been wrapped up in some, will they, won’t they for months? The sports student had been so wrapped up with Baekhyun recently that he hadn’t even noticed, and he couldn’t help but feel bad for it. But then an index finger booped his nose and Chanyeol looked up into the dazzling face of Baekhyun and regretted nothing.

“Are you free tomorrow? We could hang out in my dorm room and try to plot who my secret admirer is?” the art student asked as the wind rustled through his blue fringe.

The balloons bumped and banged together in Jongdae’s hands and he looked at Baekhyun impatiently. Baekhyun nodded to him before looking to Chanyeol for an answer. The sports student nodded eagerly and couldn’t help but smile.

“Sounds great, Baekhyun,” he answered.

Baekhyun gave a happy wave as he and Jongdae plodded off in the direction of the East Dorm. Tomorrow was the day before Valentine’s Day. He considered that maybe this would be the moment he come clean and admit that he was the secret admirer, or at least, the present giver. He glanced to Jongin who was already finding his feet and shivering in front of Chanyeol.

“Are you going to tell him tomorrow or on the big day?” Jongin asked as if knowing what was on the male’s mind.

The tall boy shrugged as they began walking to their own dorm in the opposite direction. He had to make a decision, and he had to make it in the next twenty-four hours.

♥♡♥♡

The big panda bear within his arms had kept him warm on his walk across the campus but it hadn’t stopped other students staring at him in interest. Quite rightly so, Chanyeol figured, because how often do you see someone waltzing through campus with a plushie half their size dangling in their hold. It was going to be the big, main present that he would give to Baekhyun tomorrow, on the actual day, but after a long night of soul searching when Chanyeol left his dorm moments before, he went with the panda and the confession, rather than the plain bouquet of red roses that lay across his desk.

Maybe he’d give the roses to Jongin instead for being such a good sport throughout this whole process.

Now, as he and the big panda stood waiting at the dorm entrance for Baekhyun, he gave himself another Park Chanyeol pep talk. Just a moment of bravery, even if that meant simply admitting that he wants to be friends with Baekhyun and hoped the presents made him happy. He wouldn’t let himself be tight-lipped and he wouldn’t let himself babble on about anything and everything either. Today, Chanyeol would compute around Baekhyun like any normal human being would.

“Oh God, not the dungarees!” Chanyeol blurted loudly.

From the other side of the glass door Baekhyun appeared in his black, baggy overalls and a striped, long-sleeve tee. Why won’t the universe let Chanyeol just rest? Couldn’t Baekhyun have just woken up that day, looked at his wardrobe and picked the least cute outfit that definitely wouldn’t affect Chanyeol in anyway? While Chanyeol had his overall-induced crisis, Baekhyun flung open the door and all but squealed at the sight of the panda.

“You found it!” Baekhyun cried happily and pulled the panda into his arms.

Chanyeol was pulled from his thoughts and glanced over Baekhyun curiously. The smaller boy was clutching at the panda, squeezing the life out of the sweet plushie and rubbing his cheeks against the soft fur. The sports student tried to figure out if maybe he had simply died and gone to heaven, but suddenly Baekhyun’s lips were moving at the speed of light and he willed himself to listen.

“You remember Lee Taemin from school, right? He said he sent me a cute Valentine’s gift and that it was arriving today! I thought it would have been left at the main desk with the other post but I suppose the deliveryman just left it here,” Baekhyun chattered as he glanced at the little red tag around the panda’s neck, his name written upon it.

Chanyeol’s heart felt small at that moment. The pep talks and the confidence of seeing Baekhyun so happy with his gifts all dwindled now. The rolling script that he was preparing in his mind was scrapped and thrown out for good.

“Yeah, I found it out here with your name on,” he answered meekly with a forced smile.

Baekhyun gave the panda another big squeeze and grinned.

“Come in! I got some snacks for us, if this pretty panda doesn’t eat them all first!” Baekhyun giggled as he hurled the plushie through the dorms, Chanyeol following at his feet, “Did you know that pandas are one of my favourite animals?”

Of course he did. For a whole year, Baekhyun brought his pens to school in a pencil tin covered in cartoon pandas. He did a project about pandas and their dwindling numbers in the wild for a geography project. Chanyeol even overheard Donghyuck and Mark talking about Baekhyun’s panda pyjamas at lunch one day.

“No, I didn’t know,” Chanyeol answered simply.

♥♡♥♡

“Honey I’m home and I bring gifts!” Jongdae announced as he returned from his class, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you had company. Should I leave you two alone?”

Baekhyun looked up from where he had been spooning the big panda plushie with a Monet textbook and laughed loudly. He playfully threw the textbook at Jongdae’s feet as he shuffled up to sit on his bed. What little room there was on the single dorm bed against the panda's large body as just enough to Baekhyun to fit in snugly. 

“How dare you interrupt such an important date, Jongie!” Baekhyun laughed.

Jongdae laughed again with a wide, sweet smile. He placed a small box covered in stamps onto Baekhyun’s bed - beside the panda - before flopping onto his own to change out of his shoes and into his slippers. Baekhyun looked curiously at the box with his name and address on it.

“Is the panda another secret admirer gift?” Jongdae asked with the unzipping of his coat.

Baekhyun was quiet for a moment as he glanced from the bear to the box, repeating the action as a frown furrowed onto his face. The address on the box was written in Taemin’s pretty handwriting, had he sent two gifts? Jongdae watched in a quiet curiosity as Baekhyun abandoned the panda for a short moment and opened up the box. He reached in and pulled out a personalised snow globe with a photograph of Baekhyun between Ten and Taemin before he shook it so the cutesy snow and glitter fell around them. There was even a small card tucked beside it with a sweet message from Taemin.

“I thought the panda bear was from Taemin, but this snow globe is from Taemin? So who is the panda from?” Baekhyun sat back and glanced across at Jongdae.

Jongdae hung his coat and scarf up inside his half of the closet and turned back to Baekhyun, plopping onto the bed next to him. Now he was confused. He had assumed that Baekhyun’s secret admirer – the not so sly Park Chanyeol – had somehow secretly dropped the panda off as another present. He tucked his feet under himself in curiosity and glanced over Baekhyun, taking the snow globe from him and shaking it with care.

“How did you find the panda bear?” Jongdae asked simply.

“Chanyeol came round earlier and apparently he found it outside, I assumed the deliverymen left it there because it’s so big. It had my name on?” Baekhyun blinked innocently.

Jongdae looked deep into his best friend’s soul and ultimately despaired. He’d never realised how oblivious his sweet hearted roommate was. Jongdae patted the plush bears head and faced the bear toward Baekhyun with a smile.

“So you went downstairs to see Chanyeol, and he happened to be holding a Valentines gift, after you’ve spent the last week or so receiving gifts and surprises from a secret admirer?” Jongdae offered slowly.

Baekhyun’s lips formed a tiny pout and Jongdae watched as the cogs worked in his head. The fluffy blue hair on top of his head looked almost grey in the yellow light of the lamp, his eyes were shiny and his hands retrieved the snow globe to shake it again.

“Yeah?” Baekhyun replied simply.

Jongdae laughed and shook his head playfully as he stood up to pull on a comfortable jumper over his torso.

“What? Why are you laughing?” Baekhyun asked curiously.

“Nothing, don’t worry,” Jongdae chuckled and popped a hand on his hip, “Wanna go eat at the cafeteria?”

“Okay!”

Baekhyun jumped up without a second thought and carefully placed it on his shelf next to his other little knickknacks and trinkets. His shelf area was covered with cute trailing plants that he had to write post-it notes to remind himself to water. There were books about art and then a few candles that smelt so sweet they’d make him and Jongdae hungry. Baekhyun told himself to text Taemin later and thank him for the snow globe as he pulled on a light jacket and followed Jongdae from the dorm.

They got half way down the hall, both of them greeting Yixing who passed by them on rollerblades, grinning and holding a plate of suspicious brownies, when Baekhyun stopped and held onto Jongdae’s arm.

“Wait!” Baekhyun blurted on the spot.

Jongdae smiled knowingly like the Virgo he was and waited for Baekhyun to vocalise the realisation that Park Chanyeol had been his secret valentine this whole time. He crossed his arms and waited smugly. Baekhyun was damn cute, even if he was a little slow to click onto things.

“Should I have left the radio on for panda? I don’t want him to feel lonely,” Baekhyun said with a playful smile.

“Your poor parents,” Jongdae groaned dramatically as he turned on his heel and continued walking.

“What? Hey, wait, Jongie!” Baekhyun bumbled as he practically ran after Jongdae, “Did you find that funny? To leave the radio on for panda? Why are you walking faster?” 

♥♡♥♡

The first text had come from an unknown number practically in the middle of the night and the second had followed shortly after.

Unknown (11:54pm)

Please tell Baekhyun you’re his Valentine because he’s clueless and I feel bad for you BOTH.

Unknown (11:55pm)

Don’t ask how I got your number. I have sources.

Park Chanyeol had rubbed at his tired eyes when he looked up from his textbook and glanced at the notifications. He sighed as quiet as he could, tucked in his bed next to the glow of his lamp, and glanced across to where Jongin was sleeping solidly with his mouth agape. His phone was still in his hand as his chest rose and fell with even breaths.

Chanyeol (11:58pm)

Is Kim Jongin your mysterious source, Jongdae?

Unknown…but most probably Jongdae (11:58pm)

Don’t question my sources.

When Chanyeol woke up the next morning, there was a drizzle of rain hitting the window. Jongin had already left since his bed was made and his backpack was gone. The male stretched his arms out with a long yawn, grimacing as his bones creaked, throwing his sheets back as he pulled himself out of bed. The bundle of deep red roses on his desk still looked as fresh and pretty as they had when he brought them. He couldn’t help but think of the texts Jongdae had sent him the previous night, and on this cold, rainy Monday morning he realised there was one place he wanted to be.

The sports student pulled on his big padded jacket and zipped it up, fixed his backpack over his shoulders and reached for the roses. The rain outside had gotten heavier and Chanyeol worried for the weather ruining the roses, so as he stepped out of his dorm and headed to the Arts building, the bouquet tucked safely inside of his coat. He didn’t want the roses to be ruined by the horrid weather; nothing would make him sadder than presenting the sweetest boy he’d ever seen with wet, drooping roses.

By the time he reached the Arts building, Chanyeol’s hair was wet and he was readying himself for Baekhyun to let him down softly. His mind naturally panicked at the thought of Baekhyun realising that all the gifts had been from him and ultimately being disappointed that it wasn’t someone funnier, or more confident than him. He’d seen how excited Baekhyun was when he thought the panda plush was from Taemin, and Chanyeol was starting to doubt whether he would get the same reaction. He plodded down the hallways, glancing around and half-expecting to see Baekhyun in a class through the workshop window.

He was somewhat surprised to see Baekhyun stood by his locker and rooting through it, huffing to himself as if in a rush. One of the red paintbrushes Chanyeol had gifted him was balanced over his ear and the baggy shirt he was wearing was, as always, paint splattered. The tall boy couldn’t help but smile and watch him, Baekhyun pushing up onto tip toe to peer into his locker, only to grunt and plop back down. Even when he was in a world of his own he looked too cute to ignore. Chanyeol wondered how the hell there wasn’t a queue of guys and girls lining up to ask him on a Valentines date.

“Hi Baekhyun,” Chanyeol’s voice was quiet, but loud enough in the hall for Baekhyun to hear.

The boy looked up and blinked once before his face twisted into a cute smile. He immediately stopped rooting through his locker and waved enthusiastically. Chanyeol’s life was beginning to decrease because of all the cute waves he was collecting from the boy in front of him.

“Hi Chanyeol,” Baekhyun greeted.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but look over his shoulder and point toward Baekhyun’s workshop room.

“Are you in the middle of a class? I could come by later,”

“No, no,” Baekhyun interrupted in a cheery tone, “I have a free period. I should be painting by now but I can’t find my good white paint anywhere.”

The art boy glanced into his locker one last time, and upon deciding the paint was a lost cause, slammed it shut and grinned up to Chanyeol. His sweet face then flashed in realisation and his cute smile grew.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” he wished the taller.

There was a moments silence and as Baekhyun’s face started to twist into confusion, Chanyeol took a determined step forward. He told himself to be brave, repeatedly, and to tell the truth. If he couldn’t confess his feelings for Baekhyun today, on the international day of telling the one you love that you love them, then when else could he do it?

A tiny voice whispered that Christmas could be romantic but it was a long wait until the festive season would roll around again and if Baekhyun was going to keep skipping into his life in those cute overalls the wait would be _UNBEARABLE_.

“Are you okay? You look a little sad,” Baekhyun then blurted out, reaching to stroke Chanyeol’s arm.

Oh God, he had to do that just when Chanyeol felt confident enough to tell him what he wanted to tell him. Chanyeol’s mouth opened nevertheless, the male determined, but no words followed. He stuttered over a few opening words, _‘Well, it so happens, erm’_ , before he rolled his eyes at himself. Chanyeol was never good at words anyway, what he had done over the last few days, preparing gifts, surprises, thinking of sweet ways to make Baekhyun smile was what he was best at.

So he slowly unzipped his jacket to reveal the beautiful bouquet and carefully offered it towards the teenage love of his life.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Baek,” Chanyeol returned.

Baekhyun took the flowers tentatively, his sparkling eyes rolling across every petal, just as they had done with the first rose in the pretty box, his lips mirroring the dark colour of the bouquet he held. His chin tilted until his eyes met Chanyeol’s with that puppy-like curiosity, like he was seeing everything for the first time. It made Chanyeol’s heart beat against his ribs like a dramatic actress throwing herself on a chaise lounge when her pool boy-stroke-lover left her.

“These are for me? From…you?”

Every millisecond that past had Chanyeol falling even more in love with Baekhyun than he was before, and quite frankly, he doubted how that could even be possible.

“All of the gifts have been from me, I, err,” he took a breath, “I know how much you loved Mark Lee and how close you were at school and you looked so sad that night we met and when I realised that you broke up around Valentine’s day I couldn’t help myself, I just wanted to buy you a gift so that you felt happy and loved, but the more you feel happy, the more I feel happy, and I’ve just been buying you gifts including the panda, the big panda was from me, I brought the panda. Unless Taemin also brought you a panda and there was a panda mix up, then in that case I brought you _one_ of the pandas, but yes, panda, gifts, they were from me.”

Chanyeol let out an extremely audible gasp as he came to the end of his word vomit and caught his breath. His hands found his hips and rooted there. He wondered if Mark Lee ever lost his breath while absolutely spilling every word in his vocabulary over Byun Baekhyun. He doubted it.

“Park Chanyeol, have you been my secret admirer?” Baekhyun asked simply with a sweet smile over his face.

“Ever since you moved into our class in Year 10 and told the class that chemistry joke and everyone laughed. You were the sweetest, funniest little thing, you made my days so happy when we barely even spoke,” Chanyeol sighed and knotted his hands together, “I wasn’t going to tell you this because I know you and Mark only just broke up. But, I guess you deserve to know.”

Baekhyun’s brow rose until Chanyeol could no longer see his eyebrows from under his faded blue hair. He cleared his throat and thought to add quickly,

“I’m more than happy to just be friends though, or give you space! I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, I’m sorry,”

“You liked me all this time and I never knew?” Baekhyun interrupted in a soft tone.

“You happy was always the most important to me.”

The softest expression Chanyeol had ever seen passed across Baekhyun’s perfect features and made him feel just as gooey as he was incredibly frightened and filled with dread for what was coming next. 

“Well, now I’m mad as hell!” Baekhyun announced with the stomp of his foot.

Chanyeol frowned and gulped audibly.

“I totally asked Kim Junmyeon if you had a date for the Christmas dance in Year 11 and he said that Oh Sehun said you didn’t want a date because you were hung up over some guy!” Baekhyun blurted loudly with a laugh, “Are you telling me that _you,_ the cute Korean Lit guy who wrote poems and rose his hand when the teacher asked about any author ever, and had all these little random facts about passages from books, who used to call his eomma on the phone at lunch to ask if she was having a nice day and _always_ wore those funny school shoes that looked like flippers, _liked me_?”

Chanyeol burst into the biggest grin when he realised he wasn’t the only one who vomited words from his mouth around here. Baekhyun just made it look a lot cuter than he did. Then the realisation hit him.

“Wait! Are you kidding me? I’m going to kill Oh Sehun,” Chanyeol shook his head, “I was pining after you!”

“It was me?!” Baekhyun exclaimed with enchanted eyes, “I totally went to the dance with Mark because I thought you probably liked one of the other sporty guys, like Oh Sehun! This whole damn time we could have been dating?”

“Well, now I’m mad!” Chanyeol agreed.

The two stood there laughing like idiots for a moment, their unexpected confessions sinking in until Baekhyun grew bashful and held the roses tight against his chest. He looked up at Chanyeol with sincerity.

“Why did you lie and say the panda wasn’t from you?”

Chanyeol gave a little shrug and felt small all over again.

“I just kinda panicked. You seemed more excited about it being a gift from Lee Taemin so I went along with it,” the tall boy confessed as he smiled in embarrassment.

“I love Panda more because he came from you, and you gave him to me because you wanted me to feel better,” Baekhyun smiled and looked down at the bouquet of roses, “But I think these are my favourites of all the gifts.”

“How so?” Chanyeol blurted in confusion.

“Because now they’ll always remind me of this conversation, and what you did for me, Park Chanyeol,” Baekhyun explained with sparkly eyes.

Chanyeol really thought he was going to pinch himself and wake up back in his dorm room, listening to Jongin bumble around the room, pulling on his dance clothes loudly. He thought that his heart would probably go into overdrive and he’d have to be rushed to hospital and then his parents would be called and they would be so mad at him for focusing on a cute boy rather than his classes. But he didn’t, he was still stood by Baekhyun’s locker with the boy in question, roses and confessions between them.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Baekhyun asked eagerly, “You organised all of this cute stuff and I think I should repay you and take you out, especially since we are now panda parents.”

Chanyeol’s knees buckled a little bit and Baekhyun had to catch him, their noses almost brushing as the sports student wobbled back to his full height and blushed bright pink once again.

“Sorry, I have a reoccurring dream where you say that but we adopt lots of dogs and we’re dog parents,” Chanyeol confessed, since he’d confessed so much already.

Baekhyun laughed and stepped forward to wrap his arms around Chanyeol’s middle, holding the roses with caution as he hugged the sports student, nuzzling his face against his sweater.

“I like that. Let’s have a date with lots of cute dogs, okay?” Baekhyun proposed, craning his neck to look up at Chanyeol.

The tall boy just nodded eagerly, too tongue tied to say anything because Baekhyun’s warm little body was pressed against his, and instead, simply wrapped his long arms around him. As Baekhyun gave another squeeze, Chanyeol knew that every enduring day of his drawn out high school crush-induced tragic life felt every bit worth it.

♥♡♥♡


End file.
